X-ray film processing machine



United States Patent 9/1966 Russelletal............

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[45] Patented Oct.6,l970

France Assistant Examiner-Robert P. Greiner Atlorney- Louis NechoABSTRACT: A machine which automatically receives ex- 2 9 on 3D 05 G9 mhm"c r "a "e "S d Ld MP 1] 0 55 posed film and develops, fixes, washes anddries the film, and stores it automatically. The machine includes afilm-developing tank, a film-fixing tank and a film-washing tank. Thefilm is propelled in the first two tanks by identical, interchangeable,self-sufficient units. From the washing tank, the film passes into adryer compartment from which the dried film IS discharged.

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aummbuuvn iduuunu Patented. Oct. 6, 1970 Sheet 1 of 10 FIG.2

INVENTORS.

HOP?

HS AW Y B Patented Oct. 6, 1970 Sheet 2 of 10 INVENTORS.

HENRY F. HOPE STEPHEN F HOPE fiqmza ATTQRNE Patented Oct,

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INVENTORS o HENRY E HOPE 1 STEPHEN F HOPE X WW4 ATTORNEY.

Patnted Oct. 6, 1970 Sheet 4 of 10 I'NVENTORS.

HENRY F2 HOPE STEPHEN F HOPE TTORNE Patented Oct. 6, 1970 3,532,048

INVENTORS HENRYE HOP k ST HEN F H E BY 47 ATTORNEY. v

Patented Oct. 6, 1970 Sheet INVENTORS HENRYFHOPE STEPHEN F HOPE wwwaATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 6, 1970 3,532,048

FIG.

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FIG.9 I I20 INVENTORS HENRYEHOPE v STEPHENF OPE L BY'E ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 6, 1970 Sheet 8 of 10 INVENTORS HENRYFHOPE STEPHEN F HOPEflam ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 6, 1970 Sheet 9 of 10 INVENTORS HENRY F2 HOPE S PHEN FHOPE ToNq.

Patented Oct. 6, 1970 Sheet 1 of 10 STEPHEN E HOPE BY ma m /L ATTORNEYTHE INVENTION An X-ray developing machine includes a developing bath, afixing bath, a washing bath and a dryer.

At one time, the still wet developed film was removed from the washingbath, to be provisionally read by the doctor, and was then hung up todry on a frame in a room which was, or was not provided, with a dryingmedium. By way of improvement, machines have been proposed whichincluded means for developing, fixing, washing and drying the film in acontinuous process, but such machines were slow, especially in thedrying process.

It is therefore an object of this invention to produce an improvedmachine whereby the entire operation from developing to drying iscarried out in a very short time.

Radiologists have offices in high rent locations where space is at apremium, and it is therefore necessary that the machine be as compact aspossible. Making a machine compact while providing adequate contact withthe developing, fixing and washing liquids, and for adequate drying, haspresented a problem which, as far as we are aware, has not as yet, beensolved. This is partly due to the fact that the moving film is bestmoved in a straight, or on a large-radius curved path. Such pathsnecessarily resulted in a correspondingly extended machine.

It is therefore a still further object of the invention to produce animproved film-propelling mechanism which is compact, but which does notsubject the film to any sharp bends.

It is necessary that a finished film be made accessible externally ofthe machine and as soon as it is ready, so as to make it unnecessary forthe operator to time anything, or to open the machine to check itsprogress or to retrieve a film.

It is therefore a still further object to provide a drying unit whichautomatically ejects the finished film and stacks it in a hopper whichis accessible from without the drying unit.

- A machine of the type set forth includes a large number of rolls whichare driven by intricately interrelated gears and other expedients andthe conventional arrangement has been such that, if one element of thedriving mechanism fails, the entire machine will be out of commissionuntil the part is repaired. When the part which failed happens to be notreadily accessible, extensive dismantling and total emptying of themachine may be needed.

It is therefore a still further object of the invention to provide anarrangement whereby the film is propelled through the developing tank byone roll assembly; through the fixing fluid by another roll assembly;through the washing compartment by another roll assembly; and throughthe drying compartment by still another roll assembly. Also, accordingto our invention, the roll assemblies are wholly unconnected with eachother, and are actuated by a single driving mechanism. Another featureof the actuating mechanism is that placing a roll assembly, or unit, inposition within the casing, automatically connects it, operationallyspeaking, with the common driving mechanism. Conversely, lifting a rollassembly out of the machine disconnects it from the driving mechanismwithout any effect on the remaining roll assemblies, or units.

Since failure of some part, or other, is inevitable, it is necessarythat the down" time of the X-ray machine be reduced and that the repairoperation be simplified.

To this end, the roll assemblies used in the developing tank are madeinterchangeable, inter se, that is, any roll assembly of that type,picked at random will fit, and the roll assemblies used in the dryingare made interchangeable in the same manner. For still furtherefficiency, roll assemblies B and C used in the fixing and washingcompartments are made identical, so as to be interchangeable, one forthe other.

, Each of the roll assemblies mentioned involve a large number ofrelatively closely spaced rolls, and driving these rolls presents aproblem because of limitations of space, weight and cost.

It is therefore a still further object of the invention to produce animproved driving system which permits all the rolls of all of units A,B, C and D, to be driven by a single motor and with the smallest numberof gears.

Other features and advantages will become apparent from i the followingspecification and the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic elevational view of an X-ray filmprocessingmachine embodying the invention, the roll assemblies used in thedevelopment, fixing, washing and drying compartments being shown inphantom above the casing.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the same with the roll assemblies omitted.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged top plan view of the machine with the developing,fixing, washing and drying roll assemblies shown in position.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view looking in the direction of line 4-4 on FIG.3.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, perspective view and shows the manner in whichthe treating liquids are circulated.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are enlarged, fragmentary views of the upper and lowerportions of one of the units shown in FIG. 4, the better to show thepath of movement of the film.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the dryer roll assembly.

FIG. 9 is a view, partly in section and partly in end elevation, of thedryer assembly shown in FIG. 9.

FIG. 10 is an enlargement of the lower portion of FIG. 9 and shows themanner in which a dried film is ejected and stacked.

FIGS. 11 and 12 are fragmentary views of the front and rear walls of thedryer unit and show deflections for directing the drying air in relationto the path of movement of the film.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the end of the casing into whichthe dryer of FIGS. 8 and 9 is inserted. and shows the blower whichsupplies air to the dryer, and that part ofthe driving mechanism whichactuates the dryer rolls.

FIG. 14 is a side elevational view of the driving mechanism.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing the driving mechanism of rollassembly which is used in the developing, fixing or washing tanks.

FIG. 16 is a right-hand elevational view of the same.

FIG. 17 is a left-hand elevational view of the same Generally speaking,the processing machine comprises a casing 10 partitioned to form a filmdeveloping compartment 12, a fixing compartment 14, a washingcompartment 16 and a drying compartment 18. Compartments l2 and 14 aresupplied with developing and fixing solutions respectively, andcompartment 16 is supplied with running wash water by conventionalmeans, not shown, leading from the corresponding sources also not shown.

According to this invention, the film is propelled into and out ofdeveloping compartment 12 by roll assembly, or unit A, into and out offixing compartment 14 by roll assembly B, into and out of washingcompartment 16 by roll assembly C and into and out of dryer compartment18 by roll assembly D. These roll assemblies are shown in phantom abovethe casing in FIG. 1; and are shown in position within the casing inFIGS. 3 and 4.

It will be noted from FIG. 1 that the roll assemblies A, B and C are inthe form of individual, self-contained units which can be removed fromthe casing by lifting them straight up, and which can be installed bylowering them, straight down. It will be seen from FIG. 13 that unit Dis installed by sliding it horizontally into the open end of the casingand that it can be removed by withdrawing it in the opposite direction.As pointed out above, units B and C are interchangeable in that theywill fit compartment B or C, and that units A and D are interchangeablein the sense that any roll unit A will fit in compartment 12 and anyroll unit D will fit in compartment 18.

By reference to FIG. 4, it will be seen that the exposed film F to beprocessed is fed from platform P into the nip of a pair of orientingrolls 20, 21, which propelled the film in the direction of arrow 22, sothat the leading edge of the film is guided, by plate 23, progressivelyinto the nip of a pair of rolls 24, 25. The nip of this pair of rollsaligns, vertically, with the nips of as many additional pairs of rollsas desired, until the lowermost pair of rolls 26, 27, is reached. Inother words, rolls 24, 25, and rolls 26, 27, and the rolls therebetween,define a straight line vertical path for the film, which is preventedfrom any deviation by guards 28. Below rolls 26, 27, which are thelowest pair of the vertically aligning rolls is another pair oforienting rolls'29, 30, which, in cooperation with lower guide plate 31,direct the film to the nip of cross-over rolls 32 and 33 which, incooperation with guide plate 34, direct the film to the nip of lowerorienting rolls 35, 36, and into the nips of successive pairs of rolls35, 36', 37, 38; 39, 40; 41, 42; 43, 44; which propel the film upwardlyover the large radius, sinuous path shown by solid black line 50 intothe nip of discharge, orienting rolls 46 and 48 in FIG. 4. By thisarrangement, when the leading edge of the film emerges from the nip ofrolls 46 and 48, it will be aimed toward transfer guide plate 52 whichdirects it to the nip of inlet, orienting rolls 53, 54 of unit B, whichcorrespond-to rolls 20 and 21 of unit A.

Since, except for roll assembly A having two pairs of rolls 26, 27 and41, 42, which merely lengthen the path of travel and which have nocounterpart in'roll assemblies B and C; the roll assemblies A, B and Care identical, it is thought that a detailed description of the rolls ofassemblies 13 and C is unnecessary and that it is enough to point outthat the film exits from compartment 14 through rolls 57, 58; that itenters compartment 16 through rolls 59, 60 and that it exits fromcompartment 16 to dryer compartment 18 through rolls 65, 67.

An upper pair of rolls of each roll assembly A, B and C is made of softrubber so as to serve as a squeegee" for minimizing the amount ofliquidcarried by the film as it passes from one compartment to the next.

In the interest ofimproved processing, the treating solutions in each ofthe compartments 12, 14 and the water in compartment 16, should bethoroughly agitated. According to this invention, this is accomplishedby the mechanism which is shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. This mechanismincludes a pump 61 which has an intake end 62 and a discharge end 63. Itwill be noted that the inlet end of the pump is at one end of thecompartment, and that the discharge end 63 is at or beyond the center ofthe compartment, and that it discharges in the direction of the distalend of the compartment. In the preferred embodiment, each pump islocated outside of its unit so as to conserve space and that end walls64 and 66 of the compartment are spaced from the adjacent walls 68 and69 of the casing and are provided with holes 70 so as to permitcirculation of the liquid as generally indicated by the arrows in FIG.5.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the dryer is formed of a large number ofpairs of rolls, the uppermost pair 76, 77 of which receives a film fromthe exit pair of rolls 59, 60 of unit C in wash compartment 18, and thelowermost pair of rolls 78, 79 of which cooperates with guide plate 80to direct the film to cross-over pair of rolls 81, 82, which arehereinafter further referred to. Except for the rolls which engage thedriving mechanism and which will be hereinafter referred to, theremaining dryer rolls are conventional and are not described in detail.It is enough to point out that their nips define a sinuous path whichlengthens the path of travel without sharply bending the film, FIG.,9.

The rolls of the dryer are enclosed in a housing formed of end walls 86,87, front and rear walls 88, 89. End wall 87 of the dryer housing formsthe inner wall of a duct or chute 90 which terminates in an intakenozzle 92. When the dryer roll unit is inserted into the end of casing10, as in FIG. 4, intake nozzle 92 automatically registers with thedischarge nozzle 93 of a blower 94 which delivers heated air into theduct 90. The air blown into chute 90 enters the dryer housing throughopenings 96 and 97 as shown by arrows 98 and 99. By this arrangement,air is blown horizontally and downwardly over the opposite faces of thefilm traveling downwardly between the rolls. As shown in FIGS. 9, l1 and12, the front and rear walls of the dryer housing are provided withdownwardly converg- I ing baffles 1 which direct the air to the centerportion of the film. End wall 87 of the dryer housing 18 is providedwith openings 102 through which the spent air is returned to the intakeside of the fan to be heated and recirculated.

In order to stack the dried films in the hopper 108 so as to beaccessible from without the dryer compartment, FIG. 10, we provide shaftroll 104 with axially spaced rings 114 which are provided with flutes116 which extend axially of the roll. When a film emerges from rolls104, 105, it passes through opening 106 and its leading edge climbs upinclined wall 111 of the hopper. As the trailing edge of the filmemerges from rolls 104 and 105, it falls into a flute 116 and, as roll104 turns, the film is moved to successive positions until it clears therings as at 118, and falls onto inclined platform 120 on which itslides, in the direction of arrow 121 until it comes to rest on bottomwall 110 and leans against wall 111 of the hopper 108.

The driving mechanism is best shown in FIG. 14 from which it will beseen that motor M drives gear 130, which drives a gear train formed ofgears 131, 132 and 133, and that gear 131 drives another gear trainformed of gears 134, 135, 136 and 137. Gear 136 drives pinions 140 and141; and gear 137 drives pinions 142 and 143. Gear 133 drives pinions145 and 146, and it also drives gear 147. It should be noted that all ofthe gears and pinions thus far referred to in connection with FIG. 14are carried by a side wall 148 of the casing 10, FIG. 13, and are alldriven by motor M.

Gears G-1 and G-2 are carried by rolls 21 and 48 of unit A,respectively; gears G-3 and G-4 are carried by rolls 54 and 58 of unitB, respectively; and gears G-5 and G-6 are carried by rolls 60 and 67 ofunit C, respectively. By this arrangement, when unit A is lowered intoposition, gears G1 and 0-2 will mesh with pinion 141 and gear 136,respectively; gears G-3 and G4 will mesh with gear 136 and gear 137,respectively, and gears G-5 and G-6 will mesh with gear 137 and pinion143, respectively. This means that the uppermost inlet and exit rolls ofunits A, B or C, will be automatically driven whenever the units arelowered to their operating positions.

The manner in which rotation is transmitted from rolls 21, 48, and 54,58, and 60, 67, to the remaining roll of their respective units isidentical and therefore a detailed description ofone ofthe units such asunit B. FIGS. 15,16 and 17. is

thought to suffice.

As shown in FIGS. 15 to 17, Gear G-3 turns roll 54, the shaft of whichcarries gear 150 which meshes with 152 on the shaft of roll 53. Theopposite end of roll 54 carries a gear, 154 which is journaled inendwall 64. Gear 156 meshes with the gear 158 which is also journaled inend plate 64 and meshes with gears 159 and 160 on rolls 161 and 162,respectively. Gear 159 drives gear 164 which is on roller 165, and gear160 drives gear 166 which is on roller 167.

Gear 158 also drives gear 170 which drives gears 171, 172, 173, 174 and175 on rolls 176, 177, 178, 179 and 180, respectively.

Gear G-4 rotates roll 58 in the same manner in which gear G-3 rotatedroll 54. On the right-hand end of roll 58, as viewed in FIG. 15, thereis a gear 182 which meshes with pinion 183 which is journaled in wall 64and which drives gear 184 to rotate roll 186.

The rolls of the drying unit D are driven as follows:

Gear 133 drives gear G-7 which, through pinion 200 drives gears 201, 202on rolls 203 and 204, respectively. Gear G-7 through pinion 205 drivesgears 206, 207 on rolls 208, 209. Gear 147 drives gear G-8 which throughpinion 210 drives gears 211, 212, on rolls 213, 214, respectively.

It should be noted that gears 133, 145, 146 and 147 are carried by wall148 of casing 10, and that the remaining gears and pinions are carriedby the wall 86 of the roll unit concerned.

Generally speaking, the upper rolls are driven from gear G7 and thelower rolls are driven from gear G-8.

From inspection of FIGS. 14 and 15, it will be noted that gears G-l,G-2; G- 3, G-4; and gears G-S, 0-6; are near the tops of theirrespective units A, B, and C, so that when the.

units are in their respective positions as shown in FIG. 4, all of thegears will be above the level of the liquid in their respectivecompartments. This makes any packing around the stems of the gears wherethey pass through the end walls of the compartments unnecessary, andinsures that the driving mechanism carried by wall 148 of the casing iskept wholly dry.

We claim:

1. A machine for processing X-ray film, said machine including:

a casing;

means partitioning said casing to form first and second vertical,substantially contiguous, open-top compartments for containingprocessing liquids;

a first, unitary roll assembly detachably and interchangeably insertablevertically, into either of said first or second compartments;

a second unitary roll assembly detachably interchangeably insertableinto, and removable from, either of said compartments, in a verticaldirection:

a third unitary dryer roll assembly detachably insertable into, andwithdrawable from, said third compartment in a horizontal direction;

a driving mechanism carried by the exterior of each of saidcompartments;

a complementary driven mechanism carried by at least one of the rolls ofeach of said wall assemblies, and automatically engageable with adriving mechanism upon insertion of the corresponding roll assembly intoa corresponding compartment;

a single driving mechanism for driving all of said roll assemblies, saidmechanism comprising:

a first gear train detachably engageable with a roll of said firstassembly roll;

a second gear train detachably engageable with said second assemblyroll;

a third gear train detachably engageable with said third assembly roll;and

a single motor for simultaneously driving said three gear trains.

2. A machine for processing X-ray film or the like;

said machine including at least one compartment;

a first set of pairs of rolls in said compartment for moving the film ina downward, substantially vertical path, from the inlet to the bottom ofsaid compartment;

a second set of pairs of rolls in said compartment for moving the filmfrom the bottom to the upper discharge end of said compartment;

said second set of rolls comprising;

a lower pair of rolls oriented to propel the film in a vertical path;

an intermediate pair of rolls which propel the film in a path which isinclined in the direction of said inlet; and

an upper pair of rolls which propel the film in a path inclined over orrelatively large'radius, in the direction of the discharge end of saidcompartment to direct the film towards the inlet end of an adjacentcompartment.

3. A machine for processing X-ray film, said machine including:

a casing;

means partitioning said casing to form first and second vertical,substantially contiguous, open-top compartments for containingprocessing liquids, and a horizontal open end drying compartment;

a first, unitary roll assembly detachably and interchangeably insertablevertically, into either of said first and second compartments;

a second unitary roll assembly detachably and interchangeably insertableinto, and removable from, either of said compartments, in a verticaldirection;

a third unitary dryer roll assembly detachably insertable into, andwithdrawable from said third compartment in a horizontal direction;

said third roll assembly comprising an outer wall which closes the openend of said third compartment when said third roll assembly is insertedinto position in said third compartment;

a single driving mechanism for driving all of said roll assemblies, saidmechanism comprising:

a first gear train detachably engageable with a roll of said firstassembly roll;

a second gear train detachably engageable with said second assemblyroll;

a third gear train detachably engageable with said third assembly roll;and

a single motor for simultaneously driving said three gear trains.

4. The machine defined in claim 3. and a blower mounted in said thirdcompartment and including an air discharge nozzle. and an intake chutecarried by said housing and registerable with the discharge end of saidblower when said third roll assembly is inserted into said thirdcompartment.

5. An X-ray film processing machine including:

a plurality of tanks for containing film-treating liquids;

a drying chamber;

a storage hopper;

there being an opening, between said drying chamber and said hopper, forthe passage ofa dried film from said drying chamber into said hopper;

a roll assembly having a receiving end for receiving and propelling afilm through the drying chamber;

a delivery end for propelling a dried film through said opening and intosaid hopper;

' means co-operating with the discharge end of said roll assembly forstacking the dried films in said hopper with each film resting on itstrailing edge on the bottom of said hopper;

said means including an auxiliary rotary roll means substantiallycontiguous with the delivery end of said roll assembly; and

said auxiliary roll means having at least one longitudinal groove forreceiving the trailing edge of a processed film and for pushing saidfilm forwardly and upwardly during a portion of a revolution of saidroll means and dropping out of said groove during a subsequent portionof said revolution to cause the trailing edge of said film come to reston the bottom of said hopper, with the film assuming a substantiallyvertical position in said hopper.

6. The structure recited in claim 5, and a guide plate adjacent the exitend of a compartment and oriented for engagement with only the leadingedge ofa film leaving said compartment.

